The present invention relates to the treatment of a natural lumen or passage located in a filled area, in particular in a solid organ of the human or animal body, which lumen provides for the transit or circulation of a fluid, in particular a body fluid, which is either liquid or gaseous, this natural lumen or passage being obstructed by the effect of a local cell proliferation.
The urinary passages, and in particular the urethra, constitute examples of natural lumina within the meaning of the present invention.
The expression "local cell proliferation" is understood to mean any biological process, for example of the benign or malignant tumor type, leading locally to a tissue excess, either organized or unorganized, and provoking an obstruction, or obstructing the natural lumen or passage in question, at the site where said proliferation develops. Benign prostatic hypertrophy, or prostatic adenoma, constitutes one example of an obstructive cell proliferation of this nature.
The present invention will be introduced, defined and described, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the treatment of acute or chronic prostate obstructions in man.